Net production of oxygen in the subtropical ocean

Nature
Stephen C Riser, Kenneth S Johnson

Abstract

The question of whether the plankton communities in low-nutrient regions of the ocean, comprising 80% of the global ocean surface area, are net producers or consumers of oxygen and fixed carbon is a key uncertainty in the global carbon cycle. Direct measurements in bottle experiments indicate net oxygen consumption in the sunlit zone, whereas geochemical evidence suggests that the upper ocean is a net source of oxygen. One possible resolution to this conflict is that primary production in the gyres is episodic and thus difficult to observe: in this model, oligotrophic regions would be net consumers of oxygen during most of the year, but strong, brief events with high primary production rates might produce enough fixed carbon and dissolved oxygen to yield net production as an average over the annual cycle. Here we examine the balance of oxygen production over three years at sites in the North and South Pacific subtropical gyres using the new technique of oxygen sensors deployed on profiling floats. We find that mixing events during early winter homogenize the upper water column and cause low oxygen concentrations. Oxygen then increases below the mixed layer at a nearly constant rate that is similar to independent measures of net...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 12, 2009·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·C Anela ChoyJeffrey C Drazen
Jun 2, 2010·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Hugo SarmentoJosep M Gasol
Jul 12, 2011·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Alejandra Calvo-DíazEmilio Marañón
Jan 1, 2009·Annual Review of Marine Science·Tommy S MooreGeorge W Luther
Dec 15, 2010·Annual Review of Marine Science·Ralph E KeelingNicolas Gruber
Jul 20, 2012·Annual Review of Marine Science·Carlos M DuarteSusana Agustí
Jul 20, 2012·Annual Review of Marine Science·Hugh W Ducklow, Scott C Doney
Jul 20, 2012·Annual Review of Marine Science·Peter J le B WilliamsMichael J Behrenfeld
Sep 25, 2014·Annual Review of Marine Science·John J Cullen
Aug 9, 2017·Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences·Katherine Richardson, Jørgen Bendtsen
Aug 23, 2019·Annual Review of Marine Science·Hervé ClaustreYuichiro Takeshita
Aug 14, 2019·Current Climate Change Reports·Seth M BushinskyNancy L Williams
Jun 4, 2008·Physical Review Letters·Jörg Schumacher

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